Black Lighting was the creation of writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden. Originally DC planned to have their first ever black headlining character be "The Black Bomber", a black hero who was secretly a white racist. Thankfully, the project fell through when the editor left and writer Tony Isabella was able to introduce his Black Lightning character that he had been working on and the project was handed over to him.

Isabella handed over to book to Denny O'Neil after the 10th issue, but the book was canceled after #11. Black Lightning next went on to become a back-up feature in Detective Comics.

Note: This series was implemented as part of the DC Explosion, but was subsequently cancelled in what became known as the DC Implosion.

Collected in Black Lightning Volume 1.